Category: Golf

• Saigo leads at 8 under after six birdies in strong round

• Korda shoots 67, tied second in best U.S. Open showing

• Kim, Shibuno among six chasing as play halts at sunset

Mao Saigo already won her first major title this year. She’s putting herself in position for another at US Women’s Open.

Saigo shot a 6-under 66 on Friday to take second-round lead at Erin Hills. At 8-under 136, the 23-year-old Japanese player had a three-stroke advantage over a group of six led by top-ranked Nelly Korda.

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• Charlie Woods wins first AJGA title by three shots

• Tiger’s son shoots final-round 66 to claim victory

• 16-year-old finishes 15 under at Streamsong Resort

Charlie Woods, the 16-year-old son of golfing great Tiger Woods, earned his first American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) win on Wednesday with a three-shot victory at the Team TaylorMade Invitational in Bowling Green, Florida.

Woods, playing in his fifth AJGA event, began the final round one shot behind overnight leader Luke Colton and mixed two bogeys with eight birdies for a six-under-par 66 on the Black Course at Streamsong Resort that brought him to 15 under on the week.

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Scottie Scheffler dug deep to pull away from a chasing pack, led by Jon Rahm, that briefly hauled him in

The leader Scottie Scheffler tees it up. If he’s feeling nerves, they’re not betraying him on his face. A huge roar from the gallery for the big man from Texas. He gracefully larrups a gentle fade around the trees down the right and he’s in position A on the fairway. He’s going round with Alex Noren today. No nerves evident from the Swedish veteran, either, as he splits the fairway. A quiet start meanwhile for Bryson DeChambeau: par-par-par. The high-point so far a whip over a huge tree to get himself back into position on 3. He remains at -5.

Matt Fitzpatrick might have rendered himself realistically done and dusted. But that’s not going to stop him battling for every shot and a high finish. He’s responded to that bogey-bogey start by raking in long birdie putts on the next two holes to return to his starting point. Meanwhile Jon Rahm’s quest to “play well” begins with par; his playing partner Kim Si-woo drops a stroke, though. So this is where we are now, with the last match preparing to tee off.

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• Scottie Scheffler opened up a possibly decisive lead with some almost flawless golf down the closing stretch at Quail Hollow
• Official leaderboard

… so having given Scottie Scheffler the grandstand introduction, he double-crosses himself and sends his approach at 1 towards the gallery to the left of the green. He’ll have a hell of a chip from there, from thick rough over sand. A pleasing symmetry to this.

… so having given Rory McIlroy the grandstand introduction, he carves his second at 10 towards the gallery to the right of the green. He’ll have a hell of a chip from there, from thick rough over sand. Meanwhile his playing partner, the defending champion Xander Schauffele, leaves his approach short and right, and immediately hollers “Mud ball!” Ah yes, mud balls …

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• Updates from the second day of play at Quail Hollow
• Live leaderboard | Scheffler ire at mud balls | Mail Scott

The first significant move of the day has been made by Tyrrell Hatton. The entertainingly volatile Englishman has kept a lid on things so far this week, and you’d be in a good mood too had you birdied the last yesterday. His approach at 18 was one of the strokes of the day, and has clearly buoyed him going into round two. Consecutive birdies to start, at 10 and 11, a 15-foot birdie putt followed by another from 20 feet, and Hatton moves into a tie for second. Heading in the other direction: Cam Davis, with bogey at 3, and Aaron Rai with bogey at 1.

-7: Vegas
-5: Hatton (2*), Gerard
-4: Davis (4),Jaeger, Smalley, Fox, Donald
-3: Scott (2*), Rai (1), Campos, Thorbjornsen, Bradley, R Højgaard, MacIntyre, Fitzpatrick, Echavarria, Poston, Hisatsune, Noren

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Couch potatoes and die-hard fans rejoice; all that time and money spent on your sports addiction may just be worth it

And still the feast goes on. Since Rory McIlroy won a Masters for the ages, fans with multiple satellite TV subscriptions – and irregular sleeping habits – have been able to gorge on an extraordinary amount of dramatic sport. Seesawing shifts in momentum? Late twists? Huge shocks? We’ve had them all.

It says something when Barcelona’s epic 3-2 victory against Real Madrid in a Copa del Rey final was only their third-most exciting match in the past month; and when my sober-eyed colleague Robert Kitson describes Northampton’s 37-34 Champions Cup win at Leinster as “one of the all‑time great knockout heists”.

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• Woods, 16, shoots 3-over 75 at Wellington Golf Club
• Teenager impoves on last year’s first effort (81)

Charlie Woods failed to get out of local qualifying for the US Open, the second straight year the son of Tiger Woods missed out.

The 16-year-old Woods was among a record 10,202 entries for the US Open. He improved from last year’s score in 18-hole local qualifying, posting a 3-over 75 at Wellington Golf Club on Thursday. That left him seven shots short of being among those who advanced to the 36-hole final stage. A year ago, he shot 81 in the local US Open qualifier.

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• Dent’s grandson announces golfer’s passing at 85
• Augusta native became one of PGA’s longest hitters

Jim Dent grew up in the caddie yards of Augusta, Georgia, eventually working at the Masters and honing his game at the municipal course known as ‘The Patch’. He went on to become one of the PGA Tour’s longest hitters and one of the top Black golfers of his generation.

Dent died on Friday at age 85, a week before his birthday, his grandson posted on Facebook. The PGA Tour said on its website that Dent suffered a stroke the day after Augusta National announced plans for Tiger Woods to design a par 3 course at The Patch.

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Masters triumph was unique but Northern Irishman knows more silverware will follow if he maintains his fine form

When you have spent so long labouring under a burden associated with the reaching of targets, it would seem ridiculous to set more. At Augusta National this month Rory McIlroy didn’t just win the Masters. He didn’t just complete his career Grand Slam. He didn’t just end a wait for a fifth major that had stretched back to his halcyon summer of 2014. McIlroy did all of this at once; his emotion on the 18th green was partly because of the almighty weight that had been prised from his shoulders.

McIlroy’s subsequent celebration was endearing, but also thought-provoking. He spent time with his parents, his wider family, his lifetime coach and childhood friends. There was no open-top bus parade through the streets of his native Holywood or wild party at the golf club bearing the same name. No public lap of honour. All of that can wait.

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• Scottish course last hosted event in 2009
• R&A says logistics, not politics, are a concern

The R&A would like to see Donald Trump’s Turnberry course in Scotland return as host of the Open but will first need to assess the feasibility of the venue, the governing body’s chief executive, Mark Darbon, said.

Turnberry, a seaside course in South Ayrshire, has staged the Open four times – most recently in 2009 when American Stewart Cink edged past his compatriot Tom Watson to claim the title in a thrilling victory. Trump bought the property in 2014 and has spent £200m upgrading the resort’s courses.

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• Englishman lost in playoff at Augusta for second time
• ‘I could really sense what it would be like to win it’

Justin Rose says he feels “tormented” by a feeling of what might have been after losing a second Masters playoff. Eight years after losing against Sergio García at Augusta National, Rose was beaten on the first extra hole by Rory McIlroy, who holed from short range for birdie after Rose’s attempt had narrowly missed.

Rose had started the final round seven shots behind McIlroy, but made his 10th birdie of the day on the 18th in a closing 66 to set the clubhouse target, with McIlroy then missing from five feet for the title in regulation.

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